Young Adult Fiction (Mature Readers)

Canadian Writer  Deborah Ellis  Moon at Noon Allen & Unwin, 2015   $21.99pb 256pp

ISBN 978 1 7601 1197 7

Themes: Ayatollah Khomeini / Gay relationships/ Iran 1988

REVIEWED FOR AROUND THE BOOKSHOPS BY 

BARBARA ELSE

This is a book that will shock and awaken. Even though it is set in Iran 1988, at first the novel might seem predictable. Teenage Farrin is another lonely girl in a school bristling with rules, dominated by a mean Principal and spiteful monitors.

But outside the school the country is dominated by the Ayatollah Khomeini and the Revolutionary Guard. In this already dangerous society where being gay is punished by execution, Farrin finds herself in love with another girl. Events are based on real life so the twists and turns of the plot become doubly exciting, doubly appalling. I couldn’t stop reading. As one of the characters tells Farrin, ‘Truth is always the most important thing, even when it leads us into dark places.’ Farrin’s illuminates history, the cruelty of prejudice and the power of love.

Year 9 up/ Age 13 up

Fiction 10 Years and Up

To be published early March 2015

NZ Writer
James Norcliffe

The Pirates and the Nightmaker

Longacre, 2015   $19.99pb 303pp

ISBN 978 1 7755 3769 4

Themes: Caribbean Ocean – 1740/ Loblolly Boy/ Magic

The hub of this story is a magic astrolabe which must be guarded at all costs from the sinister Mr Wicker. Add castaways, a ghost ship, pirates and an invisible boy with emerald green wings and a meticulously written and devised story emerges that will be hard to put down whether or not the reader has already met the Loblolly Boy and wondered about his origins. The reader feels safe in the hands of a master storyteller and totally satisfied with the ending that comes as a great surprise.  Don’t spoilt it for yourself by looking at the last few pages!!  

  

Year 6 up/ Age 10 up

Please Google the writer's name for information. 
As well as writing for them himself, James Norcliffe is a total supporter and advocate of young peoples' writing 

Young Adult Fiction (Street Racing)

NZ writer
David Jubermann

Hypercar

Epsum Media Ltd, 2015   $29.95pb     338pp

ISBN 978 0 4733 1206 0

Themes: Car racing/ Justice/ Street racing/ Wealth

Ollie allows an almost unknown young woman to drive his beloved Porsche GT3 in which she is clocked at over 270ks, crashes the car and then does a runner leaving Ollie, an incredibly wealthy young man, to totally face the music on his own. All the money in the world though can’t stop the subsequent events and Ollie is deported and his car confiscated and he finds himself in the exotic locations of Las Vegas, California and Detroit where he becomes immersed in the illegal street racing culture.

         Readers who have enjoyed David Jubermann’s earlier books will find the atmosphere of speed, ambition and money (and what it can buy) are all addictive and his old (and new) fans will find a compelling, unputdownable read.

David is a responsible writer who prefaces all his stories (except, obviously, for his love story – Just Us) with a plea never to try to replicate any of the racing sequences he describes and to always drive according to the speed limit and road conditions. 

Go to www.davidjubermann.com/books/hypercar/hypercar-poster. This will bring up a high-resolution poster – be patient though – it takes a while to download but it prints out really well.

Year 9 up/ Age 13 up

The Owl and the Pussy-cat

English writer and Welsh illustrator

Edward Lear, illustrated by Charlotte Voake

The Owl and the Pussy-cat

Forward by Julia Donaldson

Picture Puffin, 2015   $26.00hb 26pp

ISBN 978 0 7232 9321 7

Themes: Romance/ Story poems

The romantic story of the owl and the pussy cat who, after a year of sailing around the world finally put ashore in the land where the Bong trees grow, and discovered their wedding ring in the nose of a pig who sold it to them for one shilling. Charlotte Voake has brought the much loved story (it was written in 1868 to cheer up a sick little girl) to memorable watercolour life making it one of the freshest versions of the tale I have seen.  

You might also be interested in Julia Donaldson’s sequel The Further Adventures of the Owl and the Pussy-cat Picture Puffin 2014  $23.99pb ISBN 978 0 1413 3297 0. This is also illustrated by Charlotte Voake.

Julia will be visiting New Zealand next week – please Google Julia Donaldson New Zealand Tour 2015 for details.

Preschool up/ Age 3 up

Unsolicited material

PLEASE DON’T BE OFFENDED!

          As you might imagine I sometimes feel I am drowning in a sea of books as they continue to flow into my private mail box or are delivered by courier or NZ Post – and sometimes, very special, even by hand.

          It is just not possible to review everything I receive (nor would I want to) although sometimes I am sent emails or notes or even have phone calls asking why the book ‘they’ sent me has not yet been blogged.

          I try very hard to only review books here that I know will play an important part in the reader’s life either in a school/ college/ library or a private (doesn’t that sound grand?) collection.  I am looking for books that will make them think, laugh, cry, question, be involved, find answers.  

           I very seldom post unsolicited material but of course sometimes it happens that an absolute treasure appears. So. Please send me the books by all means but just don’t be offended if I don’t post them.

Fiction 9 years and up (Fantasy/ Series)

Australian Writers

Garth Nix and Sean Williams

Missing, Presumed Evil

Trouble Twisters Series Number 4

Allen & Unwin, 2014   $24.00pb  342pp

ISBN 978 1 7423 7401 7

Themes: Family/ Fantasy/ Friendship/ Good v evil/ Series/ Twins

The magical twins, Jack and Jaide have faced The Evil before but even they, with all their experience (in the first three books) of true scariness could not have imagined what is to come! I am always surprised to find that writers, exploring such well worn pathways as good versus evil and the end of the world are able to infuse freshness and new twists to the old story and make us read it as though for the first time – especially when tempered with the well-known, sometimes OTT humour of this duo.  Readers don’t have to have read the first books in this series but it will make it a more rounded experience if they have. The Trouble Twister series have been given (in my opinion) particularly enticing jackets, which may act as a lure to more reluctant readers although the first two chapters require quite a bit of concentration – it seems to become much easier reading after that.

Year 5 up/ Age 9 up

My apologies this has been sitting on my desk for a couple of months...

Wordless Picture Books

AVAILABLE MARCH 2015

German Illustrators

Ingrid & Dieter Schubert

The Umbrella

Book Island, 2015   $29.99hb  40pp

ISBN 978 0 9941 0985 9

Themes: Journeys/ Wordless picture books

On the windiest of days, a small black dog finds a bright red umbrella propped  against a tree.  The umbrella whisks him up, up into the sky and round the world over savannahs and ice floes, through jungles and coral seas, past mountains and rivers until the familiar roof of his own home appears and they float safely down to earth. Not a word is spoken in this brilliantly conceived and illustrated picture book but for a child with imagination and possibly with an adult ‘guide’ to help, it is a book full of stories, which may take some time to ‘read’.  Note that the end papers are part of the story and that inside the front cover is the place to begin.

Preschool up/ Age 3 up